We will be spending most of today in the flower garden!

This past Sunday was 5 weeks since we first planted, so today is Day 39 of the garden.

It is time to stake the dahlias and put netting over the top of the other flowers for support as they grow.

We’re also fertilizing today and thoroughly watering.

We are adding our last of several succession plantings and simultaneously filling in gaps where some seeds didn’t sprout. This last planting should ensure that we have enough flowers in several varieties available to cut at the same time this Fall for potential markets and a 6-week bouquet subscription.

I have mixed feelings about the progression of the farm. On the one hand, it is amazing to me that we had our first zinnia blooms pop up early this week! On the other hand, we have some dahlias that still have not broken through the dirt yet, and many flowers that didn’t come up at all. This week was all about pivoting to ensure that we have what we need to be able to sell this Fall.

The heat has made watering quite a challenge, so while we are all thankful for rain when it comes, you better believe we are ecstatic! However, the farm is about 8 miles from where we live, so just because it rains at home, doesn’t mean it rained on the farm. We have to call and ask my brother-in-law or check the security cameras. We are pondering a solution for watering, our research has helped us decide we don’t want to use soaker hoses, which I know seems like the easiest solution. Right now, we are watering manually and it takes a full hour to water the 112’ X 30’ garden.

Not a day goes by of working in the garden that I don’t think about Corkey’s parents who worked this same earth for years before us, growing corn, okra, and tomatoes.

I also think about my mother’s parents, Arthur and Mable Ash, of Dahlonega, Georgia.

They kept a garden behind their house on Skyline Drive, on a sloped hill most people wouldn’t bother with. My grand-daddy literally carved steps out of the earth and terraced the red dirt by hand to create this space for them to grow their own food. How he kept the kudzu back, I will never know, but it was always there, right at the edge of the garden, beyond it a jungle as far as one could see down that hillside.

When I get discouraged about our garden, I think of them, these good people that made us. I remember the funny things they said, the way they loved the Lord and their neighbors so well.

If they did it, we can too. I feel them cheering us on.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!